Richmond grandmother unhappy with match-making service

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - A Richmond grandmother looking for companionship says she felt let down by a local match-making service that charged her almost $5,000 to find dates.

Just over a year and a half out from her divorce, Teresa Pesetti was ready to dip a toe back into the dating pool, but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. Google was her first stop, and soon – she found Richmond Matchmaking. After reading the information on their website, something just clicked.

"I thought okay, I'm gonna try it,” said Teresa. “They interviewed me, they took down the information - everything about what you liked and disliked, your interests and hobbies - and I thought, gosh, this is great!"

Convinced this was the way to go, Teresa paid up front with a credit card, $4,995.00. But after ten months, and just three unsatisfactory dates, Teresa claims Richmond MatchMaking was no longer returning her phone calls or emails.

Within forty-eight hours of NBC12's visit to their offices, Richmond Matchmaking offered Teresa a large portion of her money back - almost $4,200.00.

Teresa suspects the company does have many successful matches, but with much younger clients. Teresa is almost 70 years old, and feels the company wasn’t upfront about the pool of men she was hoping to attract.

“I was looking for 60′s and up, but I was told some of the men in that age group liked younger women better, and I thought well, maybe they should have told me that at the beginning," she said.

That’s when Teresa asked for her money back. After all, she only went on three dates and was contractually promised eleven. But the contract she did sign was iron clad, and had no provision for refused. She was told a refund would be impossible, and that’s when she called 12 On Your Side.

When the company failed to return calls from the TV station, NBC 12’s Curt Autry showed up at the company’s Innsbrook offices, unannounced.

After a heated exchange with a representative with Richmond Matchmaking, they agreed to look further and get back to Curt. Within forty-eight hours of our visit to their offices, Richmond Matchmaking offered Teresa a large portion of her money back - almost $4,200.00.

And Teresa couldn’t be happier. She immediately deposited the money and spoke glowingly of both Richmond Matchmaking and NBC12.

“Yes, I’m very satisfied,” she said. “Thank you so much for all of your help; I’m sure I wouldn’t have gotten my money if it wasn’t for channel 12.”